Second woman testifies that Spring Hill College soccer player raped her

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A friend of alleged rape victim Audrey Cox testified Monday that the defendant, Vassil Kokali, raped her the previous October.

The explosive testimony came after the woman and attorneys had a closed-door session in front of Judge Charles Graddick to determine if the testimony would be allowed.

The woman, who was a student at Spring Hill College along with the defendant and his accuser, testified that her sexual encounter with Kokali occurred the last week of October in 2020, a week before Halloween. She testified that she had invited Kokali back to her apartment that night to smoke marijuana and then woke up the next morning to him putting his clothes back on to go home.

The woman told jurors she had not pants or underwear on.

“I was so confused about what had happened,” she said.

Kokali faces three felony charges, first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree burglary. FOX10 News has named Cox because she voluntarily went public with her accusation and has discussed the case with the media.

Cox’s friend testified that she confronted Kokali in message after the rape and told him had had no memory about what had happened. “Yeah, I don’t even know if you like me when you’re sober,” he replied, according to the testimony.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Megan Doggett grilled the woman about why she made no mention that Kokali had raped her until March 14 of last year when a detective from the campus police department questioned her. She later went public with her story on social media in May 2021 and testified Monday that she previously had been scared.

“It was only after Ms. Cox started claiming that she had been raped that she was able to convince you that he took advantage of you as, well; isn’t that right?” Doggett asked.

The woman denied that.

The woman testified that she told only one other person before then, a friend a day or two afterward, but she acknowledged that she did not characterize it as a rape.

The defense showed pictures of the woman with Kokali at a bar a few days after she now claims she was raped. The jury saw pictures of her at a birthday party for Kokali in February 2021. She acknowledged that she attended the get-together, a little more than three months after she says she was raped, and that she sent him a handwritten note with a heart.

“In fact, you continued to send him Snapchat messages in the weeks following, asking him to come over and hook up,” Doggett said at one point.

The woman replied: “Not that I recall.”

The woman also denied a number of other assertions by the defense lawyer, including that her roommate moved out because she believed the woman created a “toxic” environment and that what she was saying about Kokali was not true.

She also denied texting some of Kokali’s teammates on the Spring Hill College soccer team, inviting them for marijuana and sex.

The woman was with Cox on the night of March 11, 2021. She said they began at the Piano Bar on Dauphin Street for penny shots and then went to the Saddle Up Saloon. She said she saw Kokali at the Piano bar and that he put his arm around her waist.

“His hand was over my pelvic bone and made me feel a little uncomfortable,” he said.

Doggett confronted the woman with her statement to investigators and acknowledged that she did not mention at the time that Kokali had made her feel uncomfortable.

If convicted, Kokali faces 10 years to life in prison.

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